Olive & Let Die

Captain Chad Goins’ Grey had a very uneven season, mixing some rather dominant wins (over (mostly) bad teams) with ties, or tough losses to top teams. The one standout result in their regular season run was a 6-3 Week Six loss to a (very) lowly Teal side who came into that match at 0-3-0, having been outscored 13-2 to that point in the season. That win for Teal was vital for their playoff passage, but honestly did more damage to Grey’s swagger than their standings safety. Playoff losses hurt, though…and sometimes they kill. Grey was primed for revenge against Captain Zach Siemer’s Teal, but alas, they were merely revanquished, instead. A scoreless first saw Teal on the front foot, carrying a 12-7 shot advantage, and generally basking in the glow of much-better-than-Teal-average attendance (Joe Malki, Chris Malki, Luke Wolmer, and Justin Ker (!) all present and accounted for). It was Ker who would strike first, converting a Wolmer feed at 8:32 in the second, then Wolmer on the penalty kill at 4:28 to give the ‘underdogs’ a two goal edge. Chris Malki added a late period dagger (Wolmer & Elyse Shattuck) giving Teal a three goal advantage that iced the towering cake of confidence their dominance over Grey had baked over five periods of play. Captain Siemer made absolutely sure a late comeback was not in the offing, notching his first of the playoffs (Trice Harvey & Joe Malki) to bring the final line to 4-0, Teal over Grey. Chuck Bender (18/18) earned second star honors for his shutdown stint, while Jon Cima (25/29) and Grey backed out of the playoffs as the first ‘two and done’ discard. The big news in the Teal camp is the return of OG captain, Leah Gonzales. Gonzales suffered a thumb injury that required surgery back in mid-April, but her mates kept the Teal ship afloat long enough for her to swim back and climb aboard. So…Captain Gonzales & Company will be taking on White in another elimination match this Sunday. The two teams met back in Week Ten, with White rallying from two goals down to a 3-2 win…with all three goals coming in the final period…and the game-winner coming with 0:42 to play…ouch.

The Losers Bracket is the road to redemption for some, and a playoff offramp for others. Both Captain John Boddy’s Black and Captain Sev Brown’s Purple rolled into their elimination showdown with the hope (and maybe even the expectation) that they would stay on ‘the road’, and watch their opponent take ‘the ramp’. I interrupt this recap to mention that Steven P Linke’s BIRTHDAY fell just three days prior to this match on July 11th…a fact he wanted to be sure saw mention on the front page because ‘I definitely want to make a big deal of it’. So, Purple had perhaps a bit of extra ‘inspo’ (as the kids say (?)) to avenge their 5-3 Week Nine loss to Black….keeping the birthday boy in good spirits on his special weekend. Black had no such extra incentive…they just wanted to hold serve against a lower seed and continue along their path back to the promised land. The first was quiet for both sides, and while Purple held a slight shot advantage (7-5), Black would flip a switch in the first intermission and outshoot their opponent 17-3 over the next two periods of play. The first of those seventeen shots to find twine came off the blade of Captain Boddy (Brendan Jew & Pat Gladstone), and the same players in a different combination accounted for the second successful strike of the second…Jew from Gladstone and Boddy. Number two for Jew (Sean Bathgate) made it 3-0 Black with 2:57 to play, and Sadie Hellstrom netted some empty net insurance with 0:27 to play to close Purple down and out of the playoffs, 4-0. Don Tran (18/21) shouldered a second loss in as many tries, meaning that all that remains in the way of group activities for he and his Purple mates is dinner and drinks on the ‘Clue game’ tab. Ryan Loughran (10/10) earned his first playoff shutout (and win) with a fair amount of credit owing to a lockdown defense (it would seem). Loughran will be out of the lineup when Black take on top-seeded Olive in the late game this Sunday. This matchup produced a 1-1 tie back in Week Five, but as we all know, ties are for businessmen and regular season games…

I don’t refer to the playoffs as ‘the second season’ for nothing. Teams that struggled to find their form in the regular season, or perhaps muddled through attendance or injury issues can often ‘rise up’ when the records are refreshed, and fashion themselves into ‘the new Cup favorites’ in short order. Captain Ryan Karns’ White had designs on tailoring that very trajectory, setting their sights on toppling second-seeded Red as an encore to outlasting third-seeded Black in a thrilling 4-3 opening coup. A win over Red, coupled with an Olive win over Brown, would set up the potential for White to go 3-2-1-FINAL-CUP…the wet dream of any lower seed in the history of sports. Not to carry that analogy to a gross place (but I will), Captain Joel Gattey’s Red was the parent waking White up from that….dream, and while White can still…achieve their goal, they will now have to revert to some good old fashioned imagination and…handy work in the Losers Bracket. For the third straight game to open the Week Two playoff slate, it was a scoreless first period, with Red outshooting White 11-6, but neither team managing a successful strike. Nick Vacchio (having shed his goaltender tether with playoff castoffs, Pink) finally broke through for Red at 4:18 in the second (Tim Vick & Jordan Pynn). The tide of the game remained level, with the shot totals and quality chances evening out, but a Jackson Tomaszewski solo snipe doubled Red’s lead with 5:13 to play. If you have played in this league for at least a season or two, and/or if you ever check the goalie stats, you know that a two goal lead should do the trick if Sean Kelly is patrolling the pipes for your side. Trevor Vick added a ‘just in case’ empty netter with 1:06 to play, and a three goal lead is DEFINITELY sufficient with ‘Da Kid’ on your roster. Kelly (24/24) did indeed hold firm to secure the 3-0 win over White, recording his 125,063^rd career shutout, and sending Captain Gattey’s group to within a win of the big dance. Both teams remain alive, with White looking to outshine the only other remaining lower seed in Teal, and Red priming the pump to punch their ticket to the Final in a showdown with Brown.

The Week Two nightcap was billed as the battle of ‘the unstoppable force’ (Brown’s vaunted offense) versus the ‘immovable object’ (Silas ‘The Silencer™’ Perks). Brown’s 42 regular season goals were nine better than the next best team, while Perks & Partners limited opponents to SEVEN FUCKING TOTAL GOALS OVER TEN GAMES (!), half that of the next lowest total (Red)…so gross. The first three games on the night ended in a shutout, and all signs pointed to this one ending in either another shutout, a shootout, or a VERY tight, low scoring result for one team or the other. Life happens sometimes, and when a frantic Cory Brin called to report that a kitten was stuck in his engine compartment, making the drive to the rink impossible, Brown scrambled to enlist the services of White’s Matt Henderson. Brown had Brin and his new furry friend on their minds throughout, with chants like ‘litter box’ and ‘kitten’ breaking each huddle. Mark DeGraffenreid broke the scoreless first period trend, dashing (?) down the right boards, winning a ball battle with Chris Fiore, then cutting into the slot and shoveling a goal over Perks’ left shoulder. The ball was in and out of the net quickly, and while the ‘good goal’ call came with some delay, it did eventually come. Zach Salt provided the assist on that goal, then added one of his own at 5:19 in the second (Andy Strathman) — an equally in-and-out-in-a-flash low laser that Brown was fortunate enough to have counted. Scoring once on Perks has proven VERY difficult this season, but scoring twice is almost unheard of, having happened just once coming in…a two goal losing effort for…you guessed it…Brown. Brown’s two goal lead in this playoff rematch held as the clock wound close to the midway point of the third, and it was beginning to look like this one would be chalked up for ‘the unstoppable force’. Hima Joshi put a pause on that plan with what was easily the prettiest goal I have ever seen her score, and definitely one of the highlight goals for any player this season. Joshi corralled a crossing feed (Dan Soar & Aaron Cooney), then promptly roofed a wrister over a sprawling Matt Henderson to break Brown’s shutout bid and completely shift the ‘vibe’ of the contest. Olive kept the heat on the rest of the way, outshooting Brown 9-2 in the final frame (and 23-12, overall), but Henderson (22/23) and Brown would hold it down to preserve the 2-1 win. It was a happy ending for Brown, who move on to face Red in the Winners Bracket Final, but also a happy ending for Brin and his new little pet/Brown’s new ‘catscot’ (yes, he is keeping the cat). Olive, completely new to the concept of losing, will need to regroup and take care of business against Black this Sunday, or find themselves having lost the last of their nine playoff lives (OK…two lives…but I was going for the cat tie-in there…sue me).